I bought a card the other day; the envelope had "extra postage required" printed in the upper right corner. Okay, I thought, I will need to stop at the post office on my way home from running errands and have this weighed before I send it on its way. When I did that, the postal clerk felt the envelope for any lumps or bumps and pronounced her verdict: "it can go for
just 49 cents!" That's when it hit me, I wasn't even certain how much, exactly, a first class stamp cost anymore! Was her emphasis on the word "just" to imply that it would require only one stamp and no additional postage? I have been affixing Forever stamps on my outgoing mail for so long that I have failed to keep up! Am I alone? While being aware that stamps have been going up in price, the exact amount for one stamp had escaped me somewhere along the line. Yes, that was why she had said "just"... that's the price for one first class stamp. It doesn't seem that long ago, to me, that I was well-acquainted with the price of every, single, stamp! The mailbox was my friend when I was a poor college student and sent love letters to another college student half a country away (yes, that would be Mr. Goodneedle!). I washed dishes in my dormitory cafeteria for spending money back then, most of it went toward books of stamps! I have stacks of these letters tied with a ribbon that remain hidden away in a drawer; this is one of them. I can't decide which is more interesting to me this morning, the price of that stamp or the cancellation that reads: "PRAY FOR PEACE". Can the US Postal Service still promote prayer? I doubt that. Anyway, you may be wondering when this particular letter was cancelled, it's been awhile: 15, 555 days ago! This stamp may be obsolete now, but today I am going to PRAY FOR PEACE! Here's a timeless reminder that's as relevant today as it was
way back on September 7, 1971; and it's still free to do, that price hasn't changed, not
one bit!
Life is Good!
11 comments:
LOVE this, Ms. G! I have a handful of stamps of assorted value, i.e., 39, 44, 46 cents, I believe, and there in the drawer they sit. I suppose I should go and purchase additional penny stamps and use them before the price goes up again.
We have a big container in the attic, full of all the letters my Honey and I wrote to each other during college. The question I've been posing lately is "Do we keep these, or destroy them?". I've heard some friends say that they wouldn't want their children to read their letters from long ago (in a galaxy far, far away), but others have said that the letters would be a wonderful tribute to love that their children would enjoy.
Our grandchildren will not be able to read their parents letters (or texts, or FB posts) because with electronic communication, so much will be lost, erased or deleted. What a joy to have each of our letters to touch, to open, and to read and reread. And then tie them up with their ribbons again. :-)
I could not have told you that postage was 8 cents back when we were in school. Wow!! Look how far we've come since then and even at 49 cents, mailing a letter is still not a lot of money in the scheme of things (although don't get me started on mailing a big Christmas package!!).
Thanks for this today. It made me smile. :-)
Like you, I had totally lost track of the current "going rate" for a Forever stamp! Nice to know. : )
You certainly won't find "Pray for Peace" on a cancellation now. I am actually somewhat surprised we still get the Nativity on stamps at Christmas!
I just 'mailed' a couple of letters yesterday: one for $3.04 and the other for $2 something. I usually keep Forever stamps and $1.00 stamps on hand at work. For the love of me, I can't remember when stamps were that cheap.
My husband and I were married May26, 1971. I remember sending the wedding invitations a week earlier than etiquette suggested, so we could save 2cents on each invitation. That was when they went from 6 cents to 8 as my memory serves me.
Lovely post -- we can ALL relate!
I recently mailed our taxes and had also completely lost track of how much a stamp was worth. Time marches on!
My great grandfather was a postman so he would bring gone stamps for my grandmother to collect. She passed it to me when I showed interest as a child. I think I remember .10 for sure. But even though I am married to a mailman now, I don't know what the rate is ..... I just go get them out of his bag. I love getting mail but admit I much more apt to use email these days.
Stamps prices are going up in Japan too... Now I get to add all these little two yen stamps to my letters...
I envy you your love letters. My husband and I could never write to each other... That's the problem when trying to communicate in two languages!
Just wondering what Forever stamps are? It costs 60c to post a normal letter within Australia. But it costs approx. $20 to post a quilt within Aust by registered mail!
Postage irks me to begin with. I had something weighed years ago and paid the amount and left. The package went from TN all the way to Arizona where a postal inspector decided not enough postage and SENT IT BACK. I had paid what I was told to pay and then it couldn't travel with extra bought.Had to redo the entire thing and it needed to get there fast and I lost out. I wish they would just not deliver daily and quit raising the postage price.
Post a Comment